Where to Eat in Pietermaai - Food Guide to Curacao

During my one week vacation in Curacao, I stayed mostly in the Pietermaai area! However, I couldn’t find too much information when trip planning on where to eat other than using Tripadvisor as the main source. I hope by sharing my experiences and photos that it will help you decide where to eat in Pietermaai Curacao.

I’ll be listing all menu item prices in fL but you can figure out the USD equivalent by dividing by 1.75. All of the restaurants took both USD and guilders and most of them were able to provide change in USD. So let’s take a look at some of the ups and downs of our food adventure in Curacao!

Bijblauw

Bijblauw hotel has an attached restaurant as well as a retail store. The whole concept and decor is very modern, hipster but also minimalistic. I thought the food here was the best presented out of everywhere we’ve tried. It’s definitely more of an upscale experience but still in a casual setting. There are a few tables available right by the water, a bar, and then lots of seats in their “backyard”. They are open everyday from 7am-10pm.

Recommendations: There are a few couches right by the water and it’s a beautiful view during sunset. Bijblauw has a decent wine list starting at 54 fL for a bottle. We also came here for lunch and enjoyed our food very much. I had the Passion for Tuna sandwich (24fL pictured below) and the really unique flavor of passion fruit contrasted with guacamole and tuna salad was super creative.

Avoid: We didn’t have any negative experiences based on the two times here. But depending on your budget, the dinner could feel a bit over priced compared to their lunch options. The appetizers are around 25fL and entrees are 35-45 fL. If you get a drink, you’ll easily spend $50 USD per person here for dinner.

Deja Vu

Deja Vu is one of the highest ranked restaurants on Tripadvisor. They also had a 11USD lunch special on week days! It seemed like a great deal but this was the restaurant that left me most disappointed! I went in on a weekday and there was one server and just two other tables. As soon as we asked for tap water instead of bottled water, the server’s attitude was very snobby. And once we both ordered the lunch specials, he was even more unattentive. The worst was when we tried to pay with a $100 bill and he rudely said he has no change.

Not only was the service bad, the food was subpar too. My mahi mahi lunch special was tasteless, dry, and had so many bones! The only good part was the fried plantains. The goat stew was a bit more tasty but nothing to write home about.

Recommendations: Maybe we went on an off day but I wouldn’t recommend this restaurant at all. The decor is quite French inside though so it gives an European flair. The two orange bits in the photo were the friend plantains and were my favorite part of the meal!

Avoid: If you are getting the lunch special, don’t get the mahi mahi and it is really tasteless.

Kome

Kome is consistently recommended as the fine dining restaurant to go to in Pietermaai and even in Curacao. It is located a bit further inland compared to the other restaurants in this post. They have a beautiful patio with potted palm plants, but we took a seat inside. They open for lunch and dinner with a midday menu from 2:30-6pm. I got the Hongos Y Setas (19fL) for lunch which is a sauce of mushrooms, goat cheese creme fraiche, cured egg yolk with bread on top. It was really tasty and had a nice curry and Mediterranean flavor to it! The plating is beautiful here but it is higher on the price tag.

Recommendations: This is one of the only restaurants that is fully indoors and has nice air conditioning. If you are looking to escape the heat, drop by here. I really enjoyed my Hongos y Setas. It was a nice break from all the sandwiches I’ve been having. They also have a really stocked bar so I think you can get some nice cocktails here.

Avoid: On their menu, it says they have bottomless bottles of water either still or sparkling. However, we ordered sparking and received bottles of Perrier and it’s not bottomless. We didn’t realize and was charged 13fL for each bottle!

La Boheme

As the 3rd best rated restaurant on Tripadvisor, La Boheme was one place that was always busy. To snag a seat outside on the cafe, make sure to get there before all the cruise ship passengers, or go a little later in the day. They have a wide selection of smoothies for 10fL and all of them tastes super fresh. The cafe is also very cutely decorated and gives an European street appeal.

Recommendations: The fruit smoothies were more delicious than the green smoothies. The Pineapple Express comes in a cute pineapple shaped glassware while Caribbean Passion pictured below is a great tropical escape. The white smoothie was the Green Tea Tango but the grapes and yogurt flavors were too strong and I would have preferred more green tea.

Avoid: They have breakfast specials for $6 for either an omelette or a yogurt fruit cup. Both items were disappointing. The yogurt bowl was massive but it was pretty flavorless and the cocoa bits were super stale! I would stick to smoothies if you visit.

Mundo Bizarro

Mundo Bizarro was the closest to our stay at Pietermaai Boutique Hotel. It is a very eclectically decorated restaurant and reminded me of Cuba. The inside tables were a random assortment of chairs and sofas. There were also plenty of seats outdoors in their courtyard. They are open daily from 8am to 10pm and also has happy hour. The service was super friendly although a bit slow as the two times we came for lunch there was only one girl serving the whole place.

Recommendations: Their club sandwich for lunch was one of favorite items the entire trip! It had overfilling amounts of chicken, bacon, mayo, and avocado! The omelet is also a huge size and only 16.5 fL. Both the items are so delicious we ordered it twice on our trip! The omelet had so many different types of veggies in there so it felt like I was staying healthy as well!

Avoid: Don’t come here if you are in a rush, you can easily wait 45 minutes for your food. Additionally, I’m not sure if it was a coincidence but the only bug bites we got on the trip were at Mundo Bizzaro.

Scuba Lodge

We stayed at the Scuba Lodge hotel for one night and enjoyed some beautiful water views. During that time we had their Thursday night BBQ and a breakfast, but also came by their restaurant another time as well for dinner. They have a beautiful set up right by the water with half the tables in the sand and a few under cover indoors. Usually the tables are pretty empty and you can find a spot on the sand without a reservation but it’s recommended to make a reservation for the Thursday night BBQ. The service was very friendly but it often takes the servers quite a bit of time to come around. The prices are pretty reasonable here and features more casual classics.

Recommendations: The breakfast is extremely well priced! I got 3 eggs and bread for 10 fL (~$6 USD)! I also really enjoyed the Thursday night BBQ which was a buffet. It is 45 fL($25 USD) each and you have unlimited sides and 4 different types of meat (chicken skewer, fish, hamburger, steak). It is only served at 7:30pm though so you have to be on time. I’d recommend coming a bit earlier to start with some drinks and to enjoy the beautiful sunset.

Avoid: I wasn’t that big of a fan of their dinner menu. I chose the lionfish ceviche (21.50 fl) as a starter but the meat is quite chewy and not much flavor. Additionally I got the Aros Moro (27.50 fl) which are like croquettes and came with almost the same “ceviche” on the bottom as my starter and was quite disappointing.

Saint Tropez Oceanclub

The Saint Tropez restaurant is just next door to their pool and hotel. The infinity pool is quite new and clean with beach chairs and cabanas available for you to use. The restaurant is open all day from 8am till 11pm and there’s different different menu items depending on the time. Most of the seats are right by the ocean side but there are a few booths near the pools as well. The venue is actually an “Oceanclub” and I think gets more lively towards the nighttime but I went for breakfast. I really liked the vibe, the service was friendly but also chill. They didn’t have an issue with me having a smoothie by the pool or a guy walking into the pool with his orange juice.

Recommendations: I went for the Panini Italy ($9USD) and it tasted much better than expected and awesome for the price! The theme of food tasting better than photos is also true here as it doesn’t look particularly appetizing in the photo below. There is a fee of 15 guilders (~$8 USD) per person for entrance if you don’t stay at the hotel. However, we went for breakfast and then also ordered drinks when we used the cabanas and did not get charged for the entrance fee.

Avoid: There wasn’t much I disliked about Saint Tropez. Their dinner prices are pretty high but it depends on what you order.

We also visited a few other places in Pietermaai for snacks but I didn’t include them as they weren’t full meals. I hope this guide helped you decide where to eat! I usually avoid restaurants attached to hotels, but at Curacao, the little strip of Bijblauw, Scuba Lodge, and Saint Tropez were my favorite places to hang out.